


Stardust Sonata

by 13Kat13



Series: Cosmic Siren Song Playlist [2]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Fluff, Implied Sexual Content, Just... So much fluff, Light Angst, Lilia Baranovskaya (mention) - Freeform, M/M, OCs include Kenny the cadet, Science Fiction, Space Fleet is STILL a dumb name, Victor Nikiforov listens to sappy French music, don't worry kids, he's BACK AND BIGGER THAN EVER, in then gets FUCKING RIDICULOUS, sexual tension but not explicit, siren au, tell me I'm wrong
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-15
Updated: 2018-02-17
Packaged: 2019-03-19 01:56:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 17,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13694457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/13Kat13/pseuds/13Kat13
Summary: "Yuuri turns after drifting for a long while. And by turns, Victor means he flips over so he’s hanging upside down as he seeks out Victor’s gaze. He grins when he sees that he has Victor’s full attention. Then he twirls towards him, adding no small amount of sashaying as he comes close to touch his hands to the glass. Victor didn’t notice the first time he saw Yuuri dancing out in space, what with the battle going on, but Yuuri’s skin sparkles with frost out here. It’s the final blow to Victor’s fragile heart."The second in the Space Siren AU. They're still gay. They're still in space.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Couple of things about this second instalment and general yelling:
> 
> THANK YOU for every comment, kudos, subscribe and bookmark for the first in this series. Honestly I’m overwhelmed.
> 
> Now onto this tricky little second instalment: I imagine humans colonised the planets much like they did countries, with whatever country that did the colonising passing on their own language and a lot of customs to the “new” land. This is why in this AU we’ll have the retention of characters’ languages, even if they’re not from their original countries or even Earth. BUT Space Fleet works like our air traffic control, i.e. it’s all in English so that when you’re landing in a different country (planet) everyone can speak on comms.
> 
> Secondly, little angst warning at the start. But don’t worry, who would I be if I didn’t end up giving you Gay Fluff in Space?
> 
> Thirdly, whilst this is still rated T, there’s a lot more Sexual Tension in this one than the last. Yo, it’s a new relationship. It’s there. It’s discussed. Just a head’s up. But no sex scene I am sorry.
> 
> ALRIGHT LET’S HECKING DO THIS.

As it turns out, Yuuri does in fact need more clothes than just the one dress.

 

The last three weeks have been the best of Victor’s life, but Yuuri, who thoroughly disagrees with wearing trousers and had only deigned to do so previously out of politeness, is suffering. It would seem, in the weeks Yuuri had been on board, that they should have found a solution. But whilst the crew of the Starship Neuro are finishing up their scheduled sweeps before their planned course to the Starbase Johanosvik, the siren has been increasingly frustrated.

 

“Just try them, my sun,” Victor is cooing, as the siren sits in the middle of what is now wonderfully _their_ bed, surrounded by Victor’s clothes.

 

It’s usually so soothing to speak his own language to Yuuri. The siren had plucked Russian and French from his mind along with the English, and now Victor can fawn over the siren in three tongues. This of course embarrasses Yuuri. This of course does nothing to deter Victor.

 

“I have tried them,” Yuuri huffs, shoving away the trousers Victor is offering. “They’re too tight.”

 

Yuuri’s dress is being cleaned again, and Victor, at a loss for what else to give him, is trying to clothe Yuuri from his own wardrobe. Victor is adamant that this is purely the most obvious solution and does not pander to that domestic, fond part of him that loves seeing Yuuri in his clothes.

 

Yuuri is perfectly fine with Victor’s oversized t-shirts of course. And it’s not that Victor doesn’t like the siren bare legged in one of his shirts, in fact Victor is pretty sure it is his new favourite thing, getting an electric little buzz everytime Yuuri’s golden legs go swishing past. Not to mention his barely concealed and truly wonderful backside. Victor has never seen such a backside. It should really come with a warning. But he doubts a half naked Yuuri would go down well on the bridge, something they’ve managed to avoid thus far. Or perhaps it would go down a little too well.

 

Victor checks his wristwatch for any alerts from laundry but it’s woefully silent. He caves. And calls Phichit.

 

The navigator is there moments later, bounding into Victor’s bedroom like he’s always been allowed in the Captain’s quarters.

 

Phichit had taken the loss of Yuuri to Victor’s bed rather well. He’d of course insisted on a few sleepovers, but otherwise he’d been generally thrilled by his new best friend shacking up with the Captain.

 

Now however, he steamrollers Victor, a pile of clothes in his arms as he flaps his Captain out of his own room. Victor sighs, and concedes to go to the living room and settle himself on the couch. He can still see the pair, there being only an open arch between the living area and bedroom, but it is now thoroughly the Phichit show. This is difficult, because Yuuri still looks distressed, and every iota of Victor’s body tells him that a distressed Yuuri belongs nowhere else but Victor’s arms.

 

As it is, the siren is in fact slowly brightening to Phichit’s charms. He gradually starts to giggle at Phichit’s jokes, smiling at how cuddly the Officer is, and eventually agreeing to try things on. Victor is trying to look like he’s not watching all this happen. He scrolls through the options on his watch for music, selecting various soothing pieces he hopes will bleed into the mood of the room. After a little while things seem to have settled down in the bedroom, Yuuri and Phichit’s muffled voices filtering out to him.

 

Victor can’t hear what they’re saying, but after a moment, he realises that there’s a slight hitch in Yuuri’s voice. He stands.

 

In the bedroom, Phichit has now joined Yuuri in the clothes pile. The two of them are lying on their sides, curled towards each other as Yuuri speaks in a hushed voice.

 

“...feels so heavy,” Yuuri is saying, a tremble to his words as he looks down at their entwined hands. “I’m trying, but —”

 

It’s at that moment that Yuuri spots Victor and instantly clams up, shooting upright like he’s just been caught pinching cookies.

 

“Vitya,” he says, slightly breathless as Phichit also sits up beside him.

 

Victor notices that his Officer’s face is set into a deep frown, and when he looks up at Victor this only changes into a pout of displeasure.

 

“Yuuri,” Victor starts, stepping forward tentatively, unsure if he’s welcome to whatever he’s just stumbled upon. “Are you okay?”

 

“I’m fine, Vitya,” Yuuri replies, hurrying to stand and sweeping over to him. “See? I found something to wear.”

 

Yuuri is indeed in a long, tunic-like garment that skims his calves, leaving slender ankles and bare feet on display.

 

“Very nice,” Victor says, trying to inject as much positivity into his voice as possible.

 

But when he glances at Phichit, he sees the boy is still frowning as he gets to his feet.

 

“Yuuri, I have to go back before Chris blows up the dining hall,” Phichit sighs, coming over to loop his arm around Yuuri’s waist.

 

“Before Chris what?” Victor interrupts, momentarily distracted by this alarming statement.

 

It’s supposed to be Victor’s day off. He really does not want to have to deal with whatever Chris is doing to the dining hall.

 

“Don’t worry yourself, Captain,” Phichit waves him off. “It’s all under control. But Yuuri, maybe come by my room later yeah? We could watch that skating film I told you about?”

 

Yuuri, who has been chewing his lip and trying his best to look unconcerned, brightens at this.

 

“The one with the king?” he asks, catching Phichit’s hand in his own as he turns to him, excited.

 

“Yes, that one,” Phichit says, his face softening at how pleased Yuuri looks. “I’ll see you later then.”

 

And Phichit leaves with one last squeeze of Yuuri.

 

When the door closes out in the living area, the only sound left is the soothing, melodic voice of Edith Piaf filtering from the speakers. Victor turns.

 

Yuuri has drawn back in on himself. He’s trying to look calm, but his shoulders are up around his ears and he keeps smoothing his tunic.

 

“Yuuri…” Victor murmurs, coming forward to take his hands, effectively stopping the motion.

 

“I’m fine,” is Yuuri’s automatic response. He’s back to speaking in Russian. It usually gives Victor a warm, light feeling to hear his love speak in Victor’s mother tongue. That feeling is eclipsed by the wobbly line of Yuuri’s mouth.

 

And Yuuri can speak all of Victor’s languages, can communicate with him perfectly, but of course Victor is hopelessly at a loss when it comes to Yuuri’s own. He’s not telepathic. He can’t read light signals. He doesn’t speak siren.

 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to worry you,” Yuuri goes on, voice hushed. “Just chatting with Phichit, you know…”

 

Victor lets him worry this sentence out, and then watches him in silence, seeing the tight line of his body. He can feel it rising in him. That cry for the one who belongs in his arms, so much more painful than any damage to himself.

 

“Please talk to me,” Victor sighs. It’s a soft request, said without any resentment. But it still makes Yuuri scrunch his eyes closed.

 

“I don’t want you to think I’m unhappy,” Yuuri whispers then, and tries to pull his hands from Victor’s.

 

Victor doesn’t let him.

 

“No, Yuuri,” he says, drawing the siren closer instead. “I’m such an idiot.”

 

Yuuri startles, and looks up at him from where Victor’s pulled him against his chest. His eyes shine with unshed tears, and the wave of guilt Victor’s experiencing doubles. Now it’s a tsunami, threatening to drown.

 

“What —?”

 

“I haven’t been paying attention, have I?” Victor asks, drawing Yuuri over to the bed to sit. “I’ve been so happy these last few days that I haven’t seen you’re not.”

 

“I am!” Yuuri cuts in, grasping his hands tightly as he leans forward, panic in his eyes. “Victor, I’m happier with you than I’ve ever been. This is so much more than I thought I’d get in life, something I’ve only seen in my parents and a couple of other mated pairs. Vitya, I —”

 

Yuuri stops himself, draws back a little. Victor desperately wants to know where that sentence was going, barely ever sees Yuuri so honestly open with his feelings. But he’s not going to push too hard when Yuuri is actually offering them up.

 

“I know you’re happy about us,” Victor says instead, releasing one of Yuuri’s hands to trail his fingertips up Yuuri’s arm. The siren shivers. “You’ve made it clear enough in these last few weeks, darling. But there’s other things that are important for happiness, aren’t there?”

 

Yuuri’s head dips, and Victor knows he’s hit the nail on the head.

 

“Are you homesick, Yuuri?” Victor asks, his hand coming to a slow meandering stop on the curve of Yuuri’s neck. Victor can feel his pulse fluttering away there. He’d give his own heart to calm it. He already has.

 

Minako left after a couple of days aboard the ship, proclaiming she had to return home because Yuuri and Victor were too gross to be around. But Victor had seen her goodbye with Yuuri and been clapped on the back himself, so knows it was all talk. And now it’s just Yuuri. Alone among humans.

 

Yuuri’s head remains dipped, but Victor thinks it might be easier for him to address Victor’s knees, so he lets him stay like that.

 

“A little,” Yuuri says slowly. Then quickly — “But I hadn’t been home in ages anyway, I was travelling with Minako, refining my dancing and visiting other communities to pick up on their style. I shouldn’t be homesick, I didn’t even bother to go back for so long, I don’t deserve…”

 

Something breaks inside Victor. He knows this demon. Has tasted it’s touch and told himself that he has no right to know its name. He’s a little startled by the intensity of the pain to see it in Yuuri.

 

“Come here,” Victor says, drawing Yuuri forward into his arms.

 

Yuuri comes. He’s stiff and stays that way for a long while, until eventually he gives in to the soothing circles Victor’s rubbing on his back.

 

“There… it’s alright, I’m here,” Victor’s saying, words barely a sigh as he lets them out.

 

He thinks he might be getting better at dealing with other people’s emotions. Yuuri’s certainly put him to the test. He didn’t think one person could have so many feelings, no matter how hard Yuuri tries to hide them.

 

But in the last three weeks Victor’s seen a depth to the siren like he’s never known in another. Yuuri is a vast reservoir of love, and compassion, and caring. It makes sense that a body made for such sincere empathy with others would feel its own pain so acutely. And it’s not right that Victor should get to take the other feelings, without also taking this complicated, edged one too.

 

It’s not that Yuuri hasn’t come alive under Victor’s careful attentions, because he has. Victor’s heard the siren sing, watched the beautiful display of light it made. They’ve whispered to each other late at night, the duvet pulled up over their heads as they touch their smiles together. Victor’s awoken with Yuuri curled in his arms, the siren’s hand always bunching in Victor’s shirt as he sleeps.

 

Yuuri is breathing steady against him. Victor lets himself soak in it for a little while longer before he speaks.

 

“I’m so sorry we can’t communicate like you do with your kind, my love.” Victor drags the words out of himself, lets the hooks of his guilt sink into Yuuri’s wavering composure.

 

And Yuuri pushes him back for it, eyes wide as his hand lays flat against Victor’s chest.

 

“You feel bad that… Victor,” Yuuri says, eyes darting over Victor’s face as he reads his conscience. “You’re human, a wonderful one, of course you can’t read my mind.”

 

Yuuri gives him a disbelieving little shake of the head, a smile almost forming on his lips. Victor seizes it.

 

“Look, Yuuri, I’m not trying to make this about me,” Victor hurries to say. “I just know that you can skip through others’ minds, pull things out and share your own. I will never be able to do that with you, and I’m just aware that this will never have that level of communication as other siren relationships.”

 

Victor stops himself from saying ‘as you could have with another siren’, because Yuuri’s face has already darkened to that battle ready mask.

 

“Victor,” Yuuri says coolly, and the anxiety in Victor’s gut takes on a new side. “If you’re going to tell me that we are somehow less just because we are different species, because we will never be like other siren couples, then you have a lot less courage than I thought.”

 

Victor can only gaup as if slapped. He hadn’t really thought out how that would sound. Also the look on Yuuri’s face does something to Victor that is not at all repentant as he should be.

 

Then Yuuri softens. He takes Victor’s hand and consider it as he strokes his fingertips over the knuckles.

 

“You know I thought we were like Lon and Junzei,” he says quietly.

 

There’s a hint of a smile just visible on his lips. Victor lowers his own voice as he tries to catch it.

 

“I don’t remember that one,” he says.

 

Yuuri’s speaking of siren myth he’s sure. And he’s proven right as Yuuri tilts his head a little and smiles properly.

 

“That’s because I haven’t told you it,” Yuuri whispers.

 

He raises Victor’s hand to his lips and kisses each of the fingers. Then he speaks against his skin.

 

“Junzei was beautiful and powerful. She thought the planets should be beautiful too, so she wove rings of fine, strong material; ice, rock, and precious minerals. Then she chose her favourite planets, and flung the rings around them. The ones she caught first were where sirens made their homes.”

 

Yuuri smiles against Victor’s fingers, his eyelashes a heavy sweep against his cheekbones. Victor can taste his own pulse.

 

He’s familiar with siren myth now, has heard about the great ones. Not quite gods, not quite saints, but forming somewhere between the souls sirens share with each other whenever their minds touch.

 

“Lon was not beautiful, but she loved Junzei deeply. She saw her strength and her grace and wondered what she could ever do to be with one such as Junzei. The only thing she did have was her voice. So she pulled the most delicate threads of it together, strung it with light and power, and sent it across the stars to Junzei’s rings. And as wave after wave hit the rings they started to spin. And so each planet has a sparkling belt to dance around them forever, and Junzei, stunned by the voice that moved her creation to _living,_ to _dancing,_ fell in love with Lon and her song.”

 

There are tears in Victor’s eyes. They rise up until Yuuri’s a blur and he gasps with it. Yuuri looks up at the sound, and startles at the sight.

 

“Vitya —”

 

“Yuuri,” Victor wails, and flings his arms around the siren.

 

Yuuri manages to catch him, a surprised little note escaping him as Victor’s full weight lands.

 

“I’m so sorry,” Victor’s sobbing into his ear. “You’re so beautiful Yuuri, and you know so much, and we are wonderful, we will never be less.”

 

It’s Yuuri hushing Victor now, rubbing soothing circles on his back instead, which Victor had _said_ he didn’t want to happen. He pulls back quickly and holds Yuuri by the shoulders.

 

“We’ll go back to your home first,” Victor promises, and Yuuri starts slightly, but Victor just continues to hold him. “Lilia will understand. It’s not an official meeting with her. We’ll tell her that we think it’s best to forewarn other sirens of the council’s offer, and there’s some essentials we need to pick up for you. And I will meet your family, and see your beautiful home, and it will be perfect, and you are wonderful.”

 

Yuuri laughs in surprise at this last part. Then his face seems to tear down the middle, and he’s back to worrying his lip.

 

“What’s wrong, my love?” Victor says, panicking that his words weren’t enough as he cups Yuuri’s cheek.

 

“It’s just…” Yuuri starts, then seems to wrestle with his thoughts. “My family, the other sirens, I don’t know how they’ll handle it... I wouldn’t want anything to happen to you.”

 

“We can send you ahead to explain if you think that’d be easier,” Victor offers quickly.

 

He supremely does not like the idea of being seperated from Yuuri, but he’d do anything to take away that little fold that’s appeared between Yuuri’s brows.

 

However Yuuri cuts off this line of thinking with a sharp shake of his head.

 

“There’s no way I’m letting you go into siren territory unescorted,” he says vehemently. “Vitya, they’d rip you apart.”

 

The fear on his face is genuine, and something in Victor lurches towards him, sees the terrible position Yuuri’s been put in to have to fear his own kind. To choose between blood and love. There’s nothing Victor can say to make it better. Not at this stage, when everything’s still so unsure for the siren. So he tries to bring back his favourite little smile another way.

 

“Oh would they now?” Victor drawls, hitching into place his signature smirk which he knows by now makes Yuuri a little weak.

 

Yuuri’s mouth falls open slightly, clearly caught off guard, and Victor catches the little hitch of his chest. Then he’s blushing.

 

“Vitya,” he manages to say, even as he’s wriggling and generally looking torn between attraction and worry. “I’m serious.”

 

“As am I, darling,” Victor says, leaning a little more heavily into his accent because he’s seen how it makes Yuuri shudder when his Russian’s thick with the heavy roll of it in the mornings. “As you know, I’m a very _accomplished_ Captain.”

 

Yuuri’s drawing back, trying to keep his cool as Victor leans forward.

 

“S-stop,” Yuuri tries to command, but it comes out as a plea.

 

Victor leans forward until he has to reach out and prop a hand next to Yuuri’s hip, then he hovers a hair’s breadth from his lips.

 

“I’m just weighing up our options, love,” he whispers, breaths mingling with the slightly uneven ones Yuuri is taking. “Making sure we have a plan. Taking _control.”_

 

And something goes dark in the siren’s eyes at that last part. He stops trying to escape, instead tilting his hips down so his body curves towards Victor as he lets his head fall back a little, until he’s looking down on his Captain.

 

“I’d like to see you try,” Yuuri says, voice a soft whisper that’s hard with challenge.

 

Victor’s heart gives a plunging swoop. And he dives.

 

Yuuri goes down into the pile of clothes with a muffled laugh, his fingers coming to weave their way into Victor’s hair. He releases the erotic temptress persona he is fully capable of embodying, and instead lets Victor draw stuttering sighs out of him, press his thumbs into the dips in Yuuri’s thighs that always has them automatically falling open.

 

Victor’s been paying attention see. He and Yuuri haven’t gone further than heavy make out sessions, but he’s still been taking notes, growing his Yuuri Katsuki catalogue. He knows the spot behind the point of Yuuri’s jaw that makes him twitch, has heard the way Yuuri fails to stifle a whimper when Victor’s fingers brush his nipples. It’s good, and Victor files these divine gifts away to peruse at his leisure. Which of course sometimes gives him a far off look that causes Mila to slap him upside the head and Chris to snicker.

 

Yuuri is panting, flushed now, his tunic rucked up around his hips as he lets Victor kiss him hot and messy, drive all the thoughts from his mind and shower him with love instead. Victor’s drunk on it, to be allowed to touch one that dances among stars, whose whisper is a weapon and shines with a beauty to rival the sun’s.

 

Victor won’t take it any further than this of course. A week ago, Victor had come back from his nightly routine in the bathroom, and found Yuuri sitting in bed waiting for him, his face determined. Yuuri had explained, stuttering and blushing throughout, that sirens mated for life, so to take their relationship forward in that sense was a big decision. Victor had immediately inferred from this, because of Yuuri’s obvious single status, that he is a virgin. Yuuri had confirmed this with his face buried in his hands. He’d said that wasn’t exactly why he’d bought it up, but yes, he’d be giving Victor his virginity as well as his unswaying devotion if they decided to take the next step.

 

Victor’s not one for a virginity kink. He thinks it’s a stupid fetish, that glorifies the oppression of women and certain cultures, at least among humans. But this, what Yuuri would be giving him, is a whole different ball game. It’s a heavy warmth that sits somewhere uncharted in Victor’s chest. It’s almost like a marriage proposal.

 

Victor draws back just as Yuuri starts to keen and writhe a little. They’re both breathless, their chests pressed together and their limbs heavy with it.

 

Yuuri gazes up at him, lips swollen and eyes hooded, a light flush visible in the dip of his tunic’s neckline. The sight is potent, pulling on something arcane and molten in Victor. He has to stop himself from diving back in.

 

“We should… get out for a bit,” Victor manages to dig out from the tightness in his chest. God knows what he looks like himself, but from the way he’s having to force all of the blood in his body back from where it wants to go, he imagines he’s not much better off than Yuuri’s debauched state.

 

“Yes,” Yuuri agrees, and Victor likes to think he hears just a hint of disappointment. “That’d be nice.”

 

They heave themselves out of bed. This doesn’t stop them being all over each other of course. They make their way through Victor’s rooms with hands gripping hips, lips catching lips. It’s a familiarity which has twisted around their bones, so they always seem to move unconsciously in each others orbit. They’re still at it as they step out into the corridor, which of course means they fall directly into Doctor Otabek Altin.

 

“Oh, Otabek, I mean —” Victor starts, suppressing his giggle better than Yuuri, who simply buries his face in the back of Victor’s shoulder. “Doctor Altin.”

 

Victor realises he should probably be more embarrassed at the regularity with which his crew catch him wrapped around Yuuri. But it’s very hard when he feels so smug about it.

 

“Captain,” Otabek says, giving no acknowledgment of their slightly compromising state other than a slow blink. “I came to check if Yuuri would need any vaccinations, what with him visiting a population against which he has no immunity.”

 

“Oh,” Victor says, surprised and suddenly serious at this new worry he hadn’t thought of. “Um, can sirens have our vaccines?”

 

“Well that’s what I want to find out,” Otabek explains, taking out a kit of some kind. “Does Yuuri have a moment for me to run a couple of tests?”

 

Victor, who’d been looking forward to distracting Yuuri with a trip outside, stifles his disappointment and waves his hand over the sensor to make his door open again.

 

“Of course,” Victor agrees, ignoring Yuuri’s huff. “Come in, Altin.”

 

Yuuri settles himself down in Victor’s office looking a little like Yuri Plisetsky does when a tantrum is brewing. Yuuri, because he is an adult, suppresses it and subjects himself to Otabek’s prodding and poking without complaint.

 

“Good,” Otabek says eventually, after he’s taken a series of bloods that made Yuuri’s eyes go wide and his grip very tight on Victor’s hand.

 

Medicine’s come a long way, making the injections no more than quick punctures that suck the samples up immediately, but they’re still unpleasant. Victor coos and fusses, making sure he showers Yuuri with lots of affection so he’s properly distracted. The siren curls his legs up after Otabek’s done and leans back into Victor’s chest to accept it.

 

“I’ll have the results fairly quickly,” Otabek tells him. “Then we’ll know if you’re safe to visit human populations without a mask or other precautions.”

 

“Isn’t it a good sign that Yuuri hasn’t gotten sick yet, even though he’s been around us?” Victor asks, half his mind on the question, the other half on the way Yuuri is wriggling until he’s practically wearing Victor like a shawl.

 

“It is,” Otabek agrees. “But there’ll be much denser populations than the one on the Neuro, with far more diversity and less cleanliness. You run a tight ship, Captain, so none of us have much risk of getting sick up here.”

 

Victor preens a little at this, which is immediately cut short as Yuuri straight up nuzzles his nose into Victor’s neck. Victor blushes. It’s unusual for Yuuri to be openly affectionate in front of others, far too shy for such displays. He must really hate injections.

 

Kindly, Otabek ignores this.

 

“Good day, Captain. Yuuri,” he says instead as he heads towards the door, “I’ll let you know as soon as I have the results.”

 

“Thanks, Altin,” Victor calls after him, too busy with an armful of siren to see him out.

 

When the door clicks shut behind Otabek, Victor looks down.

 

“Hi there, little alien koala,” Victor teases, burying his nose in Yuuri’s hair. He smells like Victor’s shampoo and stardust.

 

“I’m not an alien, you are,” Yuuri retorts, poking Victor in the chest.

 

“A matter of perspective I suppose,” Victor concedes.

 

Then, rather than chivy him into standing, Victor simply stands with Yuuri in his arms. The siren squawks and flaps at him slightly, but settles, albeit grumpily as Victor coos and carries him to the door.

 

“We’re going to go drift in the void and think of nothing but how pretty the stars are, and how cute your butt looks when you dance around in space,” Victor explains, causing another round of squawking.

 

Victor only puts Yuuri down when they’ve entered the lift and he’s got the siren to press the button for the flight deck. This of course garnered lots of stares and quite a bit of giggling from any passing crew they encountered, but Victor decidedly doesn’t care. They reach the flight deck with a whooshing speed that always makes Yuuri go wide eyed at the passing floors, and step out to see that Victor’s cruiser is being serviced.

 

“Iglesia,” Victor trills, because he can see a pair of tanned, short clad legs sticking out from under his cruiser. “What are you doing to my baby?”

 

There’s a thump, and a muffled curse as Leo apparently smacks his head, before the Officer comes rolling out from under the cruiser, looking sheepish.

 

“Sorry, Captain,” Leo gushes, springing to his feet. “She’s a beautiful model, and I just noticed the stabilisers were looking a little loose, thought I’d tighten them up.”

 

“That’s very kind of you,” Victor allows, knowing full well that the stabilisers were probably fine as they were. He’s been present for Leo and Otabek’s swooning over various models of cruiser. “Thank you.”

 

“Of course, Captain,” Leo says, ducking his head and stepping quickly out of the way as Yuuri sweeps around to the other side of the cruiser.

 

The siren steps daintily up onto the ledge usually used to assist a passenger climbing in, but he remains on this side of the door, holding onto the handle as he looks at Victor expectantly. Victor beams at him, and steps around Leo to enter the other side.

 

Victor takes off with Yuuri clinging on, careful to go slow and give Yuuri plenty of time to let go once they swoop out from the main ship. As soon as they’re in zero gravity, Yuuri releases his grip on the handle and lets his momentum carry him further out.

 

Victor steadies himself, coming to a stop and positioning the cruiser so he can watch as Yuuri’s arms go limp and a his eyes fall shut with a blissfully contented look. He’s lit by the glow from the main ship, and Victor shuts off his headlights so Yuuri swims in and out of shadow. It aches to see Yuuri so beautiful and in his element and know that he can’t have this whilst he’s with Victor. Victor curses himself for forgetting to put on his spacesuit, unable to get any closer to Yuuri than pressing himself to the glass.

 

Yuuri turns after drifting for a long while. And by turns, Victor means he flips over so he’s hanging upside down as he seeks out Victor’s gaze. He grins when he sees that he has Victor’s full attention. Then he twirls towards him, adding no small amount of sashaying as he comes close to touch his hands to the glass. Victor didn’t notice the first time he saw Yuuri dancing out in space, what with the battle going on, but Yuuri’s skin sparkles with frost out here. It’s the final blow to Victor’s fragile heart.

 

 _“Watch me, Vitya,”_ Yuuri mouths, touching his forehead to the glass, against which Victor is already plastered, utterly enchanted. As though Victor could ever look away.

 

And then Yuuri starts to dance. Usually Victor is swept up in the trance inducing, beautiful display of limbs, grace, and muscle, no less vulnerable than any other human. And this time is no different. But he can’t help feeling a pang as notices how happy Yuuri looks, how at peace he is now compared to a little while ago. The siren’s eyes have slid shut, and there’s a smile kissing the corners of his mouth. And it makes Victor happy, of course it does. But there’s also a deep regret that he would be taking this away from Yuuri if they stay together.

 

The tunic Yuuri’s wearing, rather than taking away from his beauty, offers a clean view of his body as he moves, free of the decoration of his usual dress. The siren dances for a long time, glancing at Victor occasionally to check he still has the Captain’s attention, and smiling when he sees he does. By the end of it, Victor’s flushed and weak in his seat. He wonders if it’s possible for humans to overdose on siren dancing. Surely he’s getting too much of a certain chemical straight to the brain.

 

When Yuuri’s finished, he drifts lazily over to Victor. He doesn’t stop as he meets the glass, instead just wrapping himself over the dome to lie flat against it. Victor gazes up, desperate to reach him as the siren blinks a little sleepily down at him. But Victor doesn’t take them in. He lets Yuuri rest against the window of his cruiser, lets him bask in the zero gravity even though he can’t touch him in it. Victor has settled back in his seat, his legs kicked up on the dash as Yuuri and him exchange looks, mouth words to each other, and occasionally draw shapes on the glass between them. It’s easy and whispers of the things between their ribs.

 

Eventually Victor glances back to the ship, and when he looks back to Yuuri, he sees the siren has caught him. Yuuri sighs, but gives him a smile that’s peaceful and fond, so Victor counts their outing as a success rather than a reminder of what Yuuri is missing.

 

By the time they dock back in the Neuro, it’s dinner time. Victor takes Yuuri back to their rooms, sensing that the siren isn’t in the mood to be around a lot of people, having had a stressful afternoon and then taking all that time to unwind. He fishes a couple of steaks he’s been saving out of the fridge as Yuuri settles himself on the couch, ignoring the round table that sits in one corner near the kitchen. Victor sears his, keeping it rare but nothing compared to the red hunk of meat that he slaps directly onto a platter for Yuuri. He adds some fresh greens to the tray he’s prepared, then brings it all over without plating it up. Victor tucks himself in beside Yuuri, who has by now worked out the stereo system and put on some of his favourite bluesy music that Victor introduced him to.

 

Yuuri makes a pleased noise at the sign of the meat, and watches as Victor slices it and then plucks a piece up with his fingers.

 

“Open up, my sun,” Victor says, turning to where Yuuri has snuggled closer to him.

 

Yuuri, who usually flushes and looks away at any of the nicknames Victor comes up with, just opens his mouth and accepts the sliver of meat onto his tongue. He blinks innocently at Victor as he licks the juices off Victor’s fingers. The Captain swallows.

 

“Good?” Victor’s voice is a little wrecked, and he sees the hitch in Yuuri’s mouth at it.

 

“Mmm…” Yuuri agrees, still chewing, his eyes bright.

 

“Good,” Victor settles on, and helps himself to a piece of his more cooked meat.

 

This goes on for a while, Yuuri happily accepting pieces of food from Victor, licking his fingers occasionally but not enough that Victor can predict when it’s going to happen. By the end of it, Victor’s interest is very confused, torn between the caring nature of the act and the lewd way Yuuri’s licks his lips.

 

As Yuuri takes Victor’s hands and starts to clean them off with the napkin tucked under the tray, Victor decides it’s the former, and relaxes against the couch to let Yuuri take care of him. They flick the holo-screen on after that, which is when Yuuri remembers he was supposed to go to Phichit’s room for a movie.

 

“Nooo… Yuuri, stay,” Victor fusses, as the siren goes to rise.

 

“I told Phichit I’d come,” Yuuri pouts, looking none to happy about the fact either. “I can’t go back on my word.”

 

Apparently being a flaky bitch for dick is not a thing in siren culture. Victor doesn’t know whether to be proud or very bitter. This time he settles on the latter and prostrates himself dramatically across the cushions.

 

“I’m wounded, Yuuri,” he moans, flinging an arm against his forehead as Yuuri tuts and starts cleaning up their dinner mess. “You’d leave me after I made you such a romantic meal, fed it to you with my bare hands.”

 

“Victor, I —”

 

 _“Slaved_ in the kitchen only for my Yuuri to abandon me.”

 

“Hush!” Yuuri scolds, swatting Victor as he passes, though looking immensely fond as he does. It’s a look that never fails to turn Victor swiftly into a puddle.

 

“Call Chris,” Yuuri suggests as he loads the platter into the dish-steri. “He’ll keep you company.”

 

“Hmph,” is Victor’s very mature response.

 

Yuuri turns back to him, trying to suppress a smile as he does.

 

“Now, now,” Yuuri says, sweeping back over to him with a stern look, which doesn’t quell Victor’s disappointment as much as it increases it.

 

Yuuri bends over the back of the couch and presses a kiss to Victor’s lips. He tastes like butter and _Yuuri._

 

Victor of course drags the kiss out for as long as possible, and is almost successful in drawing Yuuri over the back of the couch and into his lap before the siren realises what he’s doing. Yuuri huffs, disentangling himself, and sweeps to the door.

 

“I’ll see you in the morning, Vityenka,” which is a new one Yuuri’s started using and is really not playing fair. He smiles softly at him. “Call Chris.”

 

“Kay,” Victor says, still a little morose. Then switches to French purely for the Effect. “Sleep well, my dear.”

 

“Sleep well, Vitya.”

 

And then Yuuri’s gone, and Victor’s left to whine into his watch until his best friend comes to his rescue.

 

* * *

 

Victor’s admittedly a little hungover the next morning. Chris had turned up with a bottle of wine the night before, apparently eager for an evening of drinking and bitching. The First Officer had been a little disappointed about the fact that there was less bitching and more waxing poetic about Yuuri, but once he figured out Victor didn’t mind if he joined in on discussing Yuuri’s _assets_ he quickly got over it. So one bottle had turned into two, and then they’d broken out the vodka.

 

This is the reason Victor’s sitting slumped in his Captain’s chair, a coffee clasped in one hand and his hair not exactly its usual effortlessly sleek style.

 

He’s briefed his crew on the new plan to visit Yuuri’s home before they carry on to Starbase Johanosvik. They’re currently busy plotting out coordinates, which they got from Yuuri, and routes, which they’re having to come up with themselves because it is _far_. Victor’s busy tapping out a message to Lilia on his pad, letting her know he’s available for a call if she wants to discuss the matter further.

 

He stares unseeing at the message after he’s sent it, which is when Yuuri chooses to sweep onto the bridge. He’s back in his usual dress, apparently returned clean to him, and looking radiant with his hair swept back and what appears to be glitter on the high curve his cheekbones, the last no doubt courtesy of Phichit.

 

“Yuuri,” Victor sighs, abandoning his coffee to stumble towards him, feeling like it’s been an age since he saw the siren.

 

It’s a little ridiculous how he drags himself over like a starving man, but he doesn’t care. He sweeps Yuuri into his arms to pepper him with kisses. Victor’s crew, used to his dramatics and now used to Yuuri, ignore this. That doesn’t stop Yuuri from shaking him off, holding him at arms length as he blushes.

 

“Good morning, Vitya,” Yuuri mumbles, and flashes him a smile. Victor’s charmed, enraptured, hooked.

 

“How are you, rhubarb?” Victor asks, smoothing his palms up Yuuri’s arms as that’s apparently all he’s allowed to touch in public.

 

Yuuri goes a shade pinker and blinks rapidly, those wide amber eyes reflecting the lights of the bridge.

 

“Fine,” he says. “I had a nice night with Phi.”

 

“Oh it’s Phi now is it?” Victor asks, shooting the man himself a glare as the Officer steps onto the bridge.

 

“Morning, Captain,” Phichit says, bounding past on his way to his desk, ignoring Victor’s scowl.

 

Curse that sweet sunshine of a man.

 

“Victor,” Yuuri says, taking his chin to direct his gaze back to him.

 

Victor, all too happy to look at Yuuri, allows it.

 

“I just came to tell you I’m going down to Doctor Altin’s office,” Yuuri goes on, immediately making Victor frown again. “He called to say he has the results.”

 

“Why didn’t he call me?” Victor says, surprising even himself with how whiney his voice sounds.

 

“Because,” Yuuri says, slowly but not at all patronisingly as totally would’ve been warranted, “they’re my results. Apparently your kind has a thing called doctor-patient-confidentiality. I like it. It’s very emulative of my own culture.”

 

Victor decides he’s sulked enough at Yuuri’s general absence from his life over the last twelve hours, so instead draws him back in to place a kiss on the tip of his nose. This is of course still a little childish as it makes Yuuri blush profusely.

 

“Okay, love,” Victor agrees. “Well you can let me know the results if you want to when you’re finished. I’ll miss you.”

 

“I’ll miss you too, Vitya,” Yuuri returns, and in a fit of daring, goes on tiptoe to kiss Victor square on the mouth.

 

Victor’s in love. He’s run out of other adjectives for the feeling and he’s already admitted it to himself anyway.

 

Then Yuuri’s sweeping back out in a swirl of glitter and skirts, and Victor’s left to stare dreamily after him.

 

“Mon ami, if you drool any more you’re going to do water damage to the ship,” Chris drawls, coming up beside Victor to prop an elbow on the Captain’s shoulder, bridge etiquette be damned.

 

The First Officer is looking a little worse for wear himself, his usual purposely messy bed head now just messy, blonde curls in disarray above a pair of green eyes that are ever so slightly bloodshot. He’s still stunning and knows it, tipping a wink at Kenny who’s just now coming in with his morning coffee. Kenny stumbles and nearly spills it.

 

“I’m such a goner, Chris,” Victor whines, leaning into his friend tragically.

 

“No, enough of that, I heard it all last night,” Chris says quickly, pushing Victor off him and then towards the Captain’s chair. “Up, we have work to do.”

 

Victor goes, and actually acts like the Captain for the next few hours as they finalise their route, plan around potential obstacles, and start on their way. There is of course the other stuff that comes up beside navigating and planning, niggly annoying things that apparently no one but Victor can fix, but he handles them gracefully too.

 

As such, they’re happily settled into their new course by lunchtime, and Victor feels like the very professional morning bodes well for the trip as a whole. Which is why he’s totally taken by surprise when a bunch of flowers arrive for him around midday.

 

“From Yuuri,” the cadet who’s acting as delivery boy explains as he hands Victor the bunch. “To say thank you for taking his needs into consideration and being an all round sweetheart.”

 

The cadet flushes at this last part, clearly unused to speaking to his Captain at all, nevermind to deliver lovey dovey messages.

 

Victor is gone. He takes the flowers wide eyed and silent. They’re a beautiful collection and must’ve come from Seung-Gil’s lab. There’s soft shades of every colour, emulating the array in Yuuri’s skirts so well that Victor wonders if that’s what drew the siren to them. Victor has no idea if flower giving is customary in Yuuri’s culture, or if this is something Yuuri learnt specially for Victor, but either way it’s the sweetest gesture.

 

Of course, it causes an uproar of teasing on the bridge, the flow of which is completely unstemmed by the fact that Victor is the _Captain_ and they are at _work._

 

“Captaiiiiin,” Mila trills, throwing her arms around Victor’s shoulders and jostling him as she bounces around. “What _needs_ are these that you’re being so considerate of, ey?”

 

Her tone is suggestive enough without the sharp poke to the ribs, but Mila is sure not to leave that out.

 

“Yes, pray tell, Captain,” Chris now joins in, draping himself over the arms of Victor’s seat. “What _ever_ have you been up to with that boy?”

 

“Alright, that’s enough,” Victor says loudly. Because Yuri Plisetsky has just walked in, taken one look at the scene, and promptly turned around and walked back out. “Back to work everyone.”

 

They go, with lots of laughter and a few more jibes, back to what they were doing before the delivery. But Victor, glancing at his watch to check it’s acceptable for him to go on lunch, steps down from his chair and hurries off the bridge.

 

After a few pointers, Victor finds Yuuri in the dining hall. The siren’s smiling at their Head of Catering, accepting a slice of bread from him over the counter. Victor’s left the flowers in a vase in his rooms on the way, so has his hands free to run directly at Yuuri and gather him up into a hug. It’s his second big display of public affection for the day, and Yuuri reacts with the same spluttering as before, but Victor’s undeterred.

 

“Yuuri,” he sings, peppering his flushing face with kisses. “My love, my star, my darling, I loved my gift, they’re so _pretty,_ Yuuri, so thoughtful.”

 

Yuuri, who’s apparently realised Victor is not going to be shaken off so easily this time, subjects himself to the tidal wave of affection with a smile that’s only a little nervous.

 

“You liked them, then?” he laughs when Victor’s calmed down a bit.

 

“I _loved_ them, Yuuri,” Victor says earnestly, clutching Yuuri’s hands to his chest.

 

“Good,” Yuuri says, and gives himself a pleased little smile. Victor melts. “I asked Doctor Altin how I should say thank you and he said it was customary to give flowers… and romantic.”

 

Victor can only make a happy noise at that. Apparently he’s lost the functionality of his tongue.

 

They settle together on one of the long tables after grabbing some food, which mostly goes ignored as they sit with their hands entwined and talking in hushed voices, unable to stifle the occasional giggle. Victor feels like a schoolboy again.

 

The dining hall is the hub of the ship. There’s several other smaller canteens dotted around to accomodate for the number of people on board, but this is the main one. There’s a friendly air of relaxed community, the sound of chatting and cutlery hitting plates bouncing off the white walls and the scrubbed floor. Victor and Yuuri are interrupted by a few other members of Victor’s crew coming to join them, which surprisingly includes Yuri, who chooses to approach the situation by outright ignoring the affectionate pair.

 

“So, Yuuri,” Phichit starts. “What’s your family like? Will your sister like me? Do you think we can be friends?”

 

Yuuri, who had been looking quite happy, seems to shrink at that. Victor frowns.

 

“I think it’s a little early to tell, Chulanont,” Victor intercepts, dragging his worried gaze from Yuuri to scowl at Phichit.

 

“No it’s okay,” Yuuri cuts in, pushing his mashed suede around the plate. “It’s true I honestly don’t know how they’ll react to me bringing humans home. I mean, my family has always been very supportive of me. They’re really wonderful. And Minako said she’ll try to soften the blow, not that she knows we’re coming yet... But…”

 

He’s got everyone’s attention now, Leo, Yuri, Sara and Phichit all gazing intently at him. Yuuri chews his lip, and glances to the side. Victor notices his hands have started smoothing his skirt in that nervous habit of his. Victor takes one of them, but doesn’t interrupt again.

 

“I think,” Yuuri says after a little while, “it won’t go down well with the other sirens who share the belt. That much I can be pretty sure of. They hate humans… after everything they’ve done. They’re used to attacking every ship they see.”

 

There’s a moment of silence, everyone paused with their forks halfway to their mouths.

 

“Well let’s hope there’s a few that’re as… accepting as your parents,” Sara pipes up, then throws a desperate glance at Leo, who nods along.

 

“Yeah, Yuuri,” Leo joins in. “You must be really popular amongst your kind. They’ll listen to you.”

 

Victor loves his crew. He could kiss every one of them.

 

“Sorry, Yuu-bug,” Phichit says, bumping his shoulder lightly against Yuuri’s. “I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

 

Victor does not resent the fact that Phichit has his own nickname for Yuuri, because that’d be silly. The boy honestly is a blessing after all, what with the way Yuuri’s shoulders gradually lose their tension.

 

They finish their lunch with no more talk of their destination after that, and Yuuri seems to relax completely for it. He comes back with them to the bridge once they’re finished, waving off Sara and Yuri as they return to whatever they were doing. Yuuri’s very impressed by the sight of the stars whizzing past the front window when they get there, his eyes wide and reflecting the streaks of white as he stands before the glass.

 

“Pretty, no?” Victor says.

 

“Very,” Yuuri agrees.

 

They stand there, their hips bumping together as they watch the universe fly by. Until Mila comes with a concern for Victor and it’s back to work, Yuuri tucking himself up on the floor in front of the window to watch his Captain work.

 

Several hours later when Victor’s done for the day, he finds himself more than a little drained. There’s lots of adrenaline and excitement when they start a new course, but with all the planning and the long haul stretch of this one, they’re still going hours later and Victor’s exhausted. Because despite what people think about him rising to the top young and fast, he works hard and is just _good._

 

He drags himself over to Yuuri, and brightens when he sees the siren with his knees tucked up under his chin, tapping away on Phichit’s pad.

 

“Hey,” Victor says, offering a hand when he reaches Yuuri. “Ready to go?”

 

He catches sight of more figure skating routines on the holo-screen of the pad, and smiles. Yuuri’s as invested in the sport as he is apparently.

 

Yuuri beams up at him, and allows himself to be pulled to his feet. They trail down the corridors together, fingers interlocked, shoulders bumping.

 

“I forgot to ask,” Victor says as they reach the door to his office. “What did the results say?”

 

“They were good,” Yuuri says brightly, sweeping into the room ahead of Victor. “Doctor Altin says it looks like I could be susceptible to some human diseases but I’m also fine to have the vaccines. I’ll have to be closely monitored though, as not all the tests were conclusive.”

 

“They weren’t conclusive?” Victor repeats, his mood taking a turn south as he follows Yuuri through to the private living area.

 

“Don’t worry yourself, Vitya,” Yuuri soothes, going over to the fridge and sticking his head inside. “Doctor Altin is very good at his job. He’ll just have to keep an eye on me after some of the shots. He’s finding the whole thing fascinating, and says he’d like to do other tests with my permission.”

 

This does not take away Victor’s concerns, but when Yuuri turns back to look at him, he just smiles softly.

 

“Vitya,” he scolds gently, coming over and easing Victor’s arms out of the tight way they’ve folded themselves together. “It’s okay.”

 

Victor’s silent for a moment longer, looking down at the space between their bodies as he finds the words. He’s not used to this. Caring for another so deeply. He loves his crew, but it’s sort of like hurtling through space with a bunch of friends whilst seeing who can pull the most daring stunt. Not that Victor encourages that sort of behaviour of course.

 

But this feeling. It pushes his concern until he can feel it behind his eyes and the hollow of his throat.

 

“There’s just so much you have to deal with,” Victor settles on saying. “I wish I could take some of the weight. I want to know how to help.”

 

“You _do_ help,” Yuuri says, his voice full of enough surety for both of them as he presses himself close. “Just by having me.”

 

“By having you?” Victor says, startled into looking up. “Yuuri, I’m lucky to have you, that’s not a favour. I would rather have no one else.”

 

Yuuri smiles at him softly and reaches up to rub at the lines that have appeared on Victor’s forehead.

 

“And I’m very lucky to have you,” Yuuri assures him.

 

It’s good to hear it. To know that Yuuri feels like he’s gaining as well as losing some things. Victor knew of course, but it’s only been three weeks, and they’re still unpacking these feelings between them.

 

Victor curls Yuuri in tighter, giving him a soft, heartfelt kiss. He tries to pour his words into it, because he’s not really sure how to say all of them. When Yuuri breaks away, a little dazed and breathless, he looks like he just might’ve got them anyway.

 

“Let’s eat shit food in bed,” Victor poses, tugging Yuuri back towards the fridge. “I wanna get the movies and cuddle time Chulanont stole from me.”

 

“I knew you were still bitter about that!”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Less vocal than with the last one so I can only hope you guys are enjoying this, thanks for kudos!

Yuuri is stressed. Which of course means Victor is stressed.

 

The siren is pacing back and forth in front of the window of the bridge staring out at the stretch of space they’ve landed in. Victor’s trying to keep his distance because Yuuri’s already snapped at him for fussing, and is watching from his Captain’s chair.

 

A dusky yellow planet looms beyond the window. If they were at a different angle, the sphere of Kantok would blot out anything else, but they’re far enough away from its surface, and positioned to look out over one of its outer rings. Yuuri is a silhouette against its light, reflecting from the nearest sun to show his outline through his skirts. Victor’s a little weak from the sight and is sure he’s not the only only who’s noticed. But it’s silent on bridge.

 

“Oh my god!” is what Yuri Plisetsky finally chooses to break the tension with.

 

Yuuri jumps, and turns wide eyed to the blonde, who storms up to him with his fists clenched. Yuuri visibly shrinks back.

 

Victor wonders if he should intervene, but this might be for the best. The small Officer does care for Yuuri after all, as much as he denies it.

 

“Get out there, be the badass motherfucker we’ve all seen you can be, and tell those other fucks that you’re here, we’re with you, and they’ll just have to deal with it,” the teenager pretty much shouts in Yuuri’s face.

 

Yuuri, wide eyed and looking a little lost, is so stunned that he simply nods and goes off to the landing bay. Victor, unsure how to feel about this exchange, rises and accompanies him at a distance.

 

Yuuri is silent as they make their way, hands bunched in his skirts. When they reach the room with the great chrome dais he pauses and turns back to Victor.

 

“It’s okay,” he says stiffly, though his face has gone soft at the sight of Victor lingering in the door. “You can come say goodbye. I won’t yell at you again.”

 

“You didn’t yell,” Victor points out, gratefully coming closer to stand in Yuuri’s space. It’s a very nice space to be in.

 

“Mm,” Yuuri agrees, distracted, and pats at Victor’s uniform like he’s straightening it out before Victor’s first day on a job.

 

Victor reels him in, trapping his hands between them.

 

“Hey,” he says, nudging Yuuri’s forehead with his nose until the siren looks up at him. “It’ll be fine. You’ll do great. And worse case scenario they don’t listen to you and we retreat. We’re very fast after all.”

 

Yuuri smiles at that and nudges his own nose against Victor’s.

 

“I know you are,” he purrs, and Victor feels it in his chest.

 

“I’ll see you soon,” Victor promises, and gives him a kiss rather than say all the other things that he has bubbling up within him. Like _be careful,_ and _come back to me,_ and _I love you._

 

“Yeah,” Yuuri sighs, releasing his tight grasp on the back of Victor’s uniform and stepping away from him. “Don’t take your eyes off me, Vitya.”

 

“As if I could,” Victor returns with a grin, and goes to open the dais so Yuuri can climb down into it.

 

He gives a wave as it starts to shut, and Yuuri blows a kiss up at him from where he stands in the hatch, ready for the second door to open. Victor pretends to catch it and then strains for one last glimpse of his siren as the door slide shut. The echoing thud they make sounds very final.

 

Victor’s throat is tight and his uniform feels too stiff. He hurries back to the bridge. On reaching it he’s thrilled to see Yuuri’s beaten him there, and is hovering on the other side of the window much to the delight of Phichit.

 

“Yuuri, Yuuri!” the Officer is half shouting, as though his volume would make a difference to the fact Yuuri can’t hear him. “Dance!”

 

“Do a flip!” Mila joins in from where she’s sat at her desk.

 

“Shake what your mother gave you!” Chris calls.

 

Victor decides that’s enough, and chivies his crew back to work. He catches Yuuri’s eye through the glass. He’s wearing a relieved smile at the sight of Victor, apparently drawing strength from his presence.

 

Victor grins, and settles himself into his chair with a lazy wink at Yuuri.

 

Yuuri doesn’t blush, instead he tilts his chin up and gives Victor the smoldering look that makes the Captain want to sink to his knees and beg. Why on earth is he on the bridge and not out there with him?

 

Then the siren’s turning, his powerful, slender limbs outlined through the folds of his dress, his body soaked in light. Victor does not miss Chris’ low whistle at this, but seeing as he’s reduced to a mess of a man himself, he can’t blame his First Officer.

 

They trail Yuuri. Victor’s feels a little mad with the fact that he has his entire crew following his whims, visiting this dangerous place because his love wanted to. But he supposes it is part of their overall mission, which is still being scrambled together by a command that’s finding out about corruption, a series of crimes, and a new species all at once. Victor’s just getting this first attempt at diplomacy in first. That’s all.

 

Yuuri’s is a falling comet, his skirts trailing a blaze of light and colour as he descends toward the ring of rocks. It’s stunning to watch. But it doesn’t last long.

 

There’s a series of flashes from the band of rocks that are rising to meet them. That’s all Victor sees at first, but then there are figures. They’re barely specks they’re still so far. But they’re growing bigger, rising to meet the ship and its siren guide.

 

Yuuri is desperately letting out his own waves of light. These are so strong that each one dazzles Victor a little. Yuuri is twisting, his posture tense and movements feverish. Victor hurries forward.

 

He stands against the window, his hand pressed to the glass as he watches his siren strain to communicate with his kind, each shout a plea for understanding, to wait, to listen. Victor curses his nature, that he can’t be there beside him, have him in his arms and reassure Yuuri that it’s okay, that their love will be enough, young as it is, it will always be enough.

 

The first real sign of trouble is when a wave of light comes not as a message, but as a weapon that washes straight over Yuuri’s head and slams into the ship.

 

There’s a series of startled sounds from his crew, and Victor staggers slightly where he stands. The alarm goes off automatically, blue and white lights turning to red, but their shields are up, they’re okay.

 

“Don’t retaliate!” Victor warns, casting a look over his shoulder at Mila and Yuri, who haven’t moved to do so, but have their hands poised nevertheless. “Be ready to retreat.”

 

His final command is directed at his navigators, catching sight of Phichit and Leo’s wide, worried eyes.

 

By the time he’s turned back, Yuuri is already falling.

 

“No!”

 

But then a wave of blue tinged light streams from his siren, and Victor’s reevaluating, looking again at Yuuri’s body language as he hurtles towards the oncoming figures. And he sees that Yuuri isn’t hurt. He’s furious.

 

The blows obviously aren’t meant to damage, but Yuuri streaks down to the group like the wrath of God upon men. He meets with them, and they’re close enough now that Victor can see Yuuri’s singled one siren out. And is shaking the living hell out of him.

 

“Captain,” Chris’ alarmed voice, “what are your orders?”

 

“Do nothing,” Victor says, his voice cracking and his fingertips white where they’re pressed against the glass. “We let Yuuri handle this. Stay at a safe distance until we know the situation.”

 

It’s a hard decision to make. Victor has no idea if siren laws would call for Yuuri’s head if he turns on his own kind in favour of humans.

 

But Victor can already see the group huddling together, not in a lynch mob, but apparently in discussion. It takes a long time, and they’re too far away for Victor to be able to read their expressions. His pulse is racing and he’s got a hope that’s foolish in its ferocity. Eventually the group break apart, and individuals start to drift towards them.

 

Yuuri reaches them first of course. His face is grim, which is why Victor’s trying not to think how pretty he looks right now. All angry and powerful. God, he’d love to be crushed between those thighs right now. Victor realises the adrenaline of the situation may be getting to him.

 

“Captain?” Chris’ voice again, now tinged with amusement as Victor breaks himself from his trance.

 

Yuuri too is looking at him expectantly, cocking his head in question. Victor gives him a reassuring smile, and takes in the other sirens who have risen to meet them.

 

There’s a girl, her skirts tinged mainly with green and very few other colours, floating closest to Yuuri. She has a curious albeit slightly wary expression, and is peering in at the crew, trying to see them without getting too close. On Yuuri’s other side is a boy, the youngest of the bunch, with a shock of red at the front of his bright blonde hair. He too looks excited and eager, going as far as coming up to the screen, looking eagerly over his shoulder at Yuuri and jabbering something that makes little flashes of orange light appear between them. Victor’s been getting Yuuri to teach him what the various displays mean, but these are far too quick for his basic understanding to catch.

 

Yuuri laughs at whatever the boy says, and responds with his own little blue flashes. The young siren practically glows at the reply and turns back to the window, his eyes seeking out Victor and then going round and curious.

 

Furthest from the group is a man. He’s beefier than the others, with a low brow and crossed arms. From his expression, Victor thinks he might’ve been the one who sent the attacking blow. Victor notices that rather than skirts, the man’s wearing wide legged trousers, still full of colour and floating slightly in the vacuum. He and the girl also have their shoulders covered, which makes Victor wonder what other styles of dress the sirens have. He feels ever so slightly put out to be in his plain grey uniform.

 

It’s odd, to see Yuuri surrounded by his own kind. The sirens are graceful, limber things, but Yuuri’s still the most stunning amongst them.

 

Victor can feel his crew at his back, taking in the sirens as he is, awaiting his command. And Yuuri is beckoning. Victor gives him a dorky thumbs up that makes Yurio snort, and directs Phichit and Leo to follow, turning back to retake his seat. There’s the beginnings of something settling in his nerves, but they’re still pushed to breaking. The sirens turn and dive back towards the belt.

 

It’s like flying towards a bed of sparkling, vicious fog. Victor wonders if this ring is made of similar stuff as those that circle other planets; ice, rock and dust, kicked up from comets striking the moons or dragged into the gravitational pull.

 

Their siren escort is letting out continuous volleys of light, and have positioned themselves around the front of the ship so they can be seen at different angles. After a little while Victor sees why.

 

Specks have appeared hovering above the rocks below. They are still too distant to make out properly, but as they draw closer and closer, Victor sees that there are many pale ovals reflecting light as faces are angled up towards them. It’s like willingly descending into a swarm of bees.

 

Victor has retreated to his chair. His hands are gripped on the armrests and he’s holding it together purely because he’s trained for this. But the slow suspense is testing his composure nonetheless. As they draw closer Victor can see some of those faces are etched with frowns, buzzing with suspicion. And there’s silence on bridge as Victor subjects his crew to one of the maddest tests of courage he’s come up with.

 

Because the crew _are_ freaked. Victor can see it in the line of Phichit’s shoulders, the poise of Leo’s hands, and the shadow of Christophe to his right. It’s not only the sirens, it’s also the band of rocks that are occasionally bumping off each other around them. There doesn’t appear to be much force behind the collisions, perhaps the lack of sound softening the look of the blows, but Victor has a feeling that the momentum of the rocks wouldn’t be slowed for something as inconsequential as the hull of a ship.

 

As they drop towards the surface of one massive rock, Leo reads off its motion and their chance of a clean landing with their current approach speed and trajectory. It’s not exactly good odds.

 

“Switch to manual,” Victor orders, his eyes on the sparkling surface of the asteroid. “Chulanont, I need you to prove why you’re at the top of the board for simulations of landing in motion.”

 

Phichit’s doesn’t turn at being addressed, but Victor sees something in his posture relax into a familiar pose. This was the point of Victor’s words of course. Because for all his friendly qualities, Phichit’s got a vicious competitive streak.

 

The navigator takes control of his deck with steady hands, Leo reading off the numbers for him. The Neuro drops towards a dark crater in the rock’s surface, trailing the four sirens as they fall like colourful petals into it. Victor watches the lip of the crater rise past them, its frosted surface sparkling in the light of the yellow planet. They are submerged in shadow.

 

They touch down by Phichit’s steady guidance, their support struts hooking where they can to keep them tethered.

 

There’s complete silence on the bridge.

 

Phichit turns. He has a triumphant look on his face but his eyes are darting about the rest of the crew.

 

“Can somebody please say something?” he says. “My arse is sweating and I _need_ someone to say something.”

 

“It’s alright,” Victor assures him, feeling slightly shaky himself as he stands. “Yuuri’s here, and he’s got these other sirens on our side already.”

 

This of course, Victor can’t be sure of. For one thing Yuuri has disappeared from view. For another the stocky siren is still glaring at them through the window, whilst the young one has streaked off towards the perimeter of the crater.

 

Where Yuuri’s gone is answered a moment later, as the siren returns to the bridge out of breath and bright eyed.

 

“It’s alright!” he says, sounding disbelieving and none too stable as he launches himself across the room at Victor. “Minami’s gone to get my parents, and Yuuko and Takeshi are all going to stay and make sure the others hold back until I can get things straightened out. Well, Takeshi might not. He’s a —”

 

And it’s another word in Yuuri’s language that Victor can’t think how to pronounce. Whatever it is it’s clearly an insult, and no doubt directed at the stern, dark haired male.

 

“I’m so sorry he attacked you,” Yuuri continues, throwing a guilty glance around Victor’s crew, who are just staring at him, apparently not knowing what else to do. “He says it was just a nudge, to see what you were about, but he’s such a liar. If you hadn’t had your shields up…”

 

Victor places his hands on the firm line of Yuuri’s shoulders, effectively ceasing his babbling and fidgeting. Oddly, it centres him; Yuuri’s relief, his nerves. Victor knows now how to sooth this, he’s had practice.

 

The siren is warm under Victor’s palms despite having just come from the deathly cold temperatures of the vacuum. Victor focuses on that, rather than the very immediate fact that Yuuri’s kind is clearly more than capable of ripping apart the puny humans in their midst.

 

“You did amazingly, love,” Victor murmurs, his hand trailing up so he can thumb at Yuuri’s lower lip. “You’re so strong and beautiful. I’m so proud.”

 

“Geez, guys,” Leo breaks in, bringing Phichit over, as the boy appears to be about to vibrate directly through the floor. “I mean this is all…”

 

Leo trails off, looking a little lost. Phichit seems torn between panic, and an overwhelming giddiness at the sight of more sirens. He’s regarding the ones outside with such curiosity that he has to flap for a moment as he takes Yuuri’s hand without looking.

 

“Yuuri,” he breathes, finally turning to look at his friend. “You’re all so _pretty._ I mean I’ve seen Minako. But is it your entire race?”

 

Yuuri laughs, the action easing away something in his posture.

 

“I think that’s just the frost,” Yuuri explains, glancing at the sirens outside. “Everyone goes kind of sparkly when we’re on the surface.”

 

“Yes I totally see,” Phichit sighs. “Such a shame that skincare routine would be fatal for humans.”

 

“Quite,” Yuuri agrees, looking amused.

 

After that Victor takes charge. He doesn’t let go of Yuuri’s hand as he starts to direct his crew, and the siren seems only too happy to cling back. They’ve already decided upon a smaller group to greet the sirens coming aboard, and he’s pleased to see that the individuals chosen have arranged themselves into a huddle close by. They would disembark onto the planet as would be proper for visiting another’s home, but there’s the issue that they wouldn’t be able to hear each other in the vacuum. Yuuri’s explained that there are places on the asteroid where the vacuum moves strangely and they can make sound echo through, but that’s a whole other physics phenomenon for another day.

 

Phichit of course couldn’t be kept back even if Victor had shut him in his room, so the navigator joins Mila, Chris, Otabek, and Seung-Gil, who’s miraculously out of his lab and even showing faint signs of interest. Victor hears him and Otabek discussing the frost on the asteroid, and how that miraculously means there’s moisture on its surface.

 

This group goes back with Yuuri to the landing bay, chatting and generally a little giddy over the idea of their guests. When they reach it, Victor opens the lower hatch in preparation, and they don’t have to wait long before there’s a knocking on the underside of the inner one.

 

Everyone present exchanges a look, and Victor taps in the approval for the airlock to seal before the inner doors open. Four faces blink up at them

 

“Yuuri!” Minako’s voice first.

 

Used to the ship, the female siren scales the ladder out of the hatch quickly whilst her companions follow with a little more trouble. There’s instantly an array of hands reaching down to help the sirens out, who stumble a little, wide eyed at the sensation of gravity.

 

There’s a woman, who Victor instantly sees Yuuri in. She has the same kind, wide eyes and curves that Yuuri would no doubt have if he let himself. A man’s next to her, who’s also kind faced and smiling but Victor can’t see Yuuri in him so much. He can however, see the man’s resemblance to another woman beside him. She is not smiling. In fact her arms are crossed and she’s wearing a severely unimpressed expression. Victor feels slightly apprehensive of this last siren.

 

Perhaps Yuuri senses this, because next moment his fingers have tightened around Victor’s and he’s drawing him forward so Victor stumbles slightly. At the same time Yuuri’s reaching out, his hand being automatically enclosed by the other four sirens. Their heads dip for a moment, apparently taking in whatever information Yuuri’s giving them.

 

The serious looking woman is the first to speak.

 

“Well damn, little brother,” she says, flicking Yuuri on the arm. “See what happens if I let you out of my sight? You’re a walking disaster zone.”

 

“Mari…” Yuuri whines, shifting a little uncomfortably as his sister laughs.

 

So this is Mari, Victor realises as he eyes the siren. Yuuri’s sister is firm jawed but has laughter in her eyes. It’s quite something, to see Yuuri squirm under the sibling teasing. A whole new facet to the being Victor’s found his centre in.

 

The group then turns their attention to Victor, and Victor feels the full weight of the fact that he’s meeting Yuuri’s family for the first time. As his romantic partner. He can’t stop his hands from shaking in a way they haven’t done on a mission since the academy.

 

“Victor,” the older woman comes forward.

 

She joins Yuuri’s hold on Victor’s hand with her own, smiling up at him with such motherly warmth that he’s struck by something so good it’s almost like grief. She has bobbed, brown hair and eyes that crinkle kindly.

 

“Thank you for taking care of our son,” the woman Victor knows to be Hiroko Katsuki says, gazing up at him with eyes that are the exact same shade of dark amber as Yuuri’s.

 

The man comes forward now, beaming at Victor too. Victor wonders how un-captainly it would be to cry.

 

“I am Toshiya,” the man says, even though of course Victor knows this. “And this is my mate Hiroko. We are in your debt.”

 

Yuuri’s fidgeting slightly, apparently torn between relief that the meeting is going well, and embarrassment. He’s rescued when his mother turns to him and takes something out from between the folds of her skirts.

 

It’s what looks like a monocle set and matches the ones she and her mate wear. The spheres of glass catch the blue light of the room, held together by a thin bridge of glass. They’re also trailing a glittering chain of beads. Hiroko hands them to Yuuri.

 

“Because your other pair got broken whilst you were...” Hiroko trails off, something pained crossing her face before Toshiya lays a hand on her shoulder.

 

“Thanks, Mum,” Yuuri says gently, taking them from her to loop the chain over his neck before securing the lenses onto the bridge of his nose.

 

And oh wow Victor had no idea Yuuri even wore glasses.

 

“Oh,” Yuuri says, blinking as something in his face relaxes into the feeling of being able to see properly again.

 

He turns and looks at Victor, and starts blushing profusely. Victor’s no less vulnerable. The sight of Yuuri in the lenses is doing something fatal to his pulse, and he’s only bought back round from his little trance by Minako.

 

“I told you,” she’s saying, rolling her eyes at Mari who’s watching with a slight curve to the corner of her mouth. “It’s honestly quite awful to watch. You see why I had to come back first?”

 

“How did you get back first?” Seung-Gil asks, addressing an obvious physics question. “We had to travel at warp speed to get here.”

 

“Sirens have their secrets, Officer,” Minako says, fluttering her fingers at him mysteriously.

 

“Oh hush,” Hiroko says, nudging her friend and smiling at Seung-Gil. “She used one of our portals.”

 

“Your what?” nearly every one of Victor’s crew asks. Victor doesn’t because he knew about the portals. He just may have forgotten to mention them to his Chief Science Officer.

 

“Portals,” Hiroko repeats patiently. “We have several dotted around between galaxies. Our science was discovered much like your own, through mistakes and abnormalities.”

 

“How did you think we got around?” Mari drawls, eyeing up Seung-Gil with a flat expression that rivals his. “Comets?”

 

Apparently this is some kind of siren joke as the group of them all laugh at it. Victor exchanges a confused look with Mila.

 

“Ma beauté,” Chris interrupts now, stepping up to Minako and sweeping low to lay a kiss on her hand. “We have missed your entertaining company.”

 

Minako, her eyes alight with the same mischief as Chris’, grins and lays a hand over her heart.

 

“Christophe, dear,” she says, and Victor’s suddenly very worried about these two being in the same room. “It’s a delight to be in your… presence.”

 

She says the last word whilst her eyes drag up the First Officer’s form. Mila snorts a laugh which is quickly disguised as a coughing fit.

 

“Would you like to come and have something to drink?” Victor asks, turning back to the tiny woman in front of him.

 

Hiroko agrees, all smiles, and Victor offers his arm to her, Yuuri still at the end of the other one. The group leave the landing bay, making their way up the corridor together.

 

Apparently this is all the permission Phichit needs to pounce. Whilst Chris is entertaining Minako, the navigator hits the Katsuki family with a barrage of information and questions, covering perhaps all of his and Yuuri’s time together and asking everything he can think of about their home.

 

Of course they’re drawing quite a lot of attention from passing crew. Victor sees people trying to contain their curiosity, but it’s hard not to stare as these unearthly creatures sweep past in their colourful skirts.

 

By the time they reach one of the rec rooms, Hiroko seems to have adopted Phichit as a second son and the boy has hit warp speed levels of glee.

 

They settle around one of the low coffee tables, illuminated by the gentle light of what is supposed to be a relaxed space for more low level activities. Victor’s ordered it empty, so there’s noone there to gaup as the group arrange themselves on the couches and armchairs. Yuuri’s a warm, reassuring presence at Victor’s side as he faces the family across the table.

 

“So this is a bit earlier than command would’ve liked,” Victor starts, glancing quickly at the siren at his side. Yuuri gives his hand a little squeeze. “But we’re looking to open diplomatic talks between our kinds. This trip’s not really about that, I just wanted… well Yuuri needed more time before coming as an emissary before our council.”

 

Victor manages to catch himself before he spills the fact that he’s lead his entire crew on what is essentially a stop off to grab Yuuri some things and meet the family. He realises from the look on Mari’s face he’s not fooling anyone.

 

“This is a good chance to let you know what those talks will look like,” Victor goes on regardless.  This is the most he’s ever cared about politics, and he tightens his grip on Yuuri’s hand as he speaks. “I’ve got some members of my crew that’ll be able to help with the expectations of the council.”

 

Victor looks to Seung-Gil who turns to face the sirens, expression perhaps more grim than usual.

 

“Our kind will want to know more about you,” Seung-Gil supplies. “Up until now it was thought nothing could survive in a vacuum. It’s sort of like when we thought all lifeforms needed the sun to live, and then we discovered deep sea life that survive on hydrothermal vents. And there’s other phenomenons that the council will want to explore, like the physics of how you move through zero gravity with no air resistance, and how you survive the freezing temperatures.”

 

Victor thinks the Chief Science Officer has just said a bunch of words that the sirens have only just grasped the basic definitions of, but they seem unphased. It’s unsurprising as Yuuri has always been two steps ahead of him.

 

“Obviously we would want to do this ethically,” Victor breaks in, looking quickly between the sirens, trying to picture their vision of humans and what this data collection would look like to them. “The council is prosecuting the man who chased Yuuri and has harmed others of your kind. We want to discover more not just to catalogue, but to further our understanding of you and your customs.”

 

He looks and Hiroko and Toshiya as he says this. He needs them to understand that Doctor Alexander Howard was not the norm, that their son will have justice for the chase that lead him hurt and unconscious to Victor.

 

Besides this, Victor hopes he and his crew are explaining all this diplomatically enough for Yuuri’s family at least to _like_ him. He’s sort of desperate for this meeting to be of a very different kind, just him and them, as he’s accepted into the family. Instead he has to talk intergalactic politics.

 

The sirens are silent as they consider his words. Victor wonders if this is a trend, seeing as Yuuri too always takes time to think before speaking. Maybe it’s the fact that their words can literally be weapons that governs their careful consideration of them. Victor thinks humans could learn a thing or two.

 

“We’ll have a job getting others to accept it,” Minako says slowly, looking to her fellows. “After years of The Hunt and its origins.”

 

Victor’s heart leaps. Yuuri’s described The Hunt to him; the sport of catching ships. If they’re talking about stopping it then he has at least got these sirens, Yuuri’s closest loved ones, on his side.

 

“But we must succeed,” Toshiya now, choosing his words slowly and carefully. “For the sake of our kind. They have a way to hunt us back, we can’t keep destroying ships and expect no retaliation.”

 

“That’ll be the hardest part,” Mari joins in, her face etched with a frown. “To then say they have to subject themselves to experimentation.”

 

“Oh no that’s not —” Victor starts, horrified.

 

“We wouldn’t be experimenting on you,” Otabek cuts across him.

 

The Chief Medical Officer has been a silent presence thus far, but now his voice is soothingly practical and detached in a way Victor’s can never be. Not for this mission. Not for Yuuri.

 

“It would be observational data collection to start,” Otabek explains. “If this goes well and if we have your permission, only then would we take things like dna samples from a small test group. There is no need for a larger sample set from many sirens for that part.”

 

The sirens are quiet again. But Victor notices that Hiroko and Toshiya are holding hands and wonders if he’s hearing the whole conversation.

 

“You will of course need some time to absorb this information,” Victor says into the shifting, slightly tense silence. “You don’t have to say anything now, and you will of course need to discuss this with others of your kind. I don’t know how your political hierarchy works...”

 

The tension breaks as the sirens laugh at this last part. Victor turns to Yuuri, confused.

 

“We don’t have a political hierarchy, Victor,” Yuuri says, smiling patiently at him. “Perhaps because of how we communicate, our kind manages to get by with a mutual understanding of how we’d like a peaceful society to function.”

 

“Well that’s a slap in the face,” Mila mutters. The Chief Security and Tactical Officer is sprawled out over an armchair to Victor’s right, her mouth quirked in a smirk. “We can’t even have one ship without a hierarchy, nevermind several planets.”

 

“Not so much planets,” Minako points out, “as their rings and moons.”

 

Yuuri squeezes Victor’s hand and the Captain turns back to see his siren looking worried.

 

“I didn’t mean it as an insult,” Yuuri explains, leaning forward slightly. “I was just describing…”

 

“I know, moya solnyshko,” Victor assures him, reaching up to trail a fingertip along Yuuri’s jaw. “I think we could learn a lot from you.”

 

Yuuri shivers at the contact, and then blushes profusely as he remembers his parents are watching. He turns to them, his mouth opening slightly, but his family are smiling, Minako with something wicked tucked into her smirk.

 

Hiroko says a few words in their own language, something that makes Yuuri flush even darker and duck his head with a nod.

 

“Hey, do you think I could learn siren, Yuuri?” Phichit asks.

 

The navigator has been quiet whilst they’ve discussed politics, but now he leans eagerly forward where he’s sat next to Yuuri.

 

“It’s actually Kan, sirens have many dialects” Yuuri says, and Victor’s relieved that he did actually know this about his lover’s culture, that he’s already learning snippets of the language even though his tongue struggles with much of it. Today’s been a bit of a shock to his system, and Victor was starting to feel guilty by how little he knows about Yuuri. It may only have been three weeks since they got together, but how can you not know everything about the one you’ve chosen to anchor your heart to?

 

Minako stands then.

 

“Well I think the Katsukis and I would like time to process this,” she says, giving Yuuri a kind smile. And Victor too notices that Yuuri’s deflated to an exhausted state. “We’ll meet back with you in, what do you call it, tomorrow?”

 

“You don’t have days?” Seung-Gil infers from this, frowning curiously up at Minako.

 

“Well when your home rolls around in space, days aren’t really a thing,” Minako explains with an indulgent smirk. “Our measurements of time work differently.”

 

The Katsukis stand too, and the group of them return the way they came, Victor’s crew dropping away with apologies and farewells as they return to work. It’s just Victor left when they reach the landing bay. He turns to Yuuri.

 

“So I’ll see you tomorrow?” he asks, trying not to let his deep disappointment show on his face. He wonders how uncomfortable it’d be to go with Yuuri and sleep in his spacesuit.

 

“Oh, um,” Yuuri starts, and bites his lip, looking unsure. “I might actually… come back here for the night.”

 

He shifts from one foot to the other and glances at his family, who suddenly all burst into a conversation of their own that means they’re obliged to walk a little distance away. Yuuri smiles a little and shakes his head. Then he peeks up at Victor.

 

“I don’t like the idea of sleeping without you,” he explains, face a furious shade of pink and hands clenched at his sides.

 

There’s a beat of silence, and then —

 

 _“Yuu_ ri!” Victor exclaims, gathering the siren up in his arms in the way that always sends Yuuri into a tizzy.

 

Victor loves him so, so much. He should really tell him soon. He looks down at the stuttering, flushing beauty pressed to his chest and feels another piece of himself tip off the precipice into that deep well of devotion to Yuuri. Yuuri may not know if he wants them to be together for life yet, but Victor’s been carrying around the crazy knowledge of his own intentions for a while now. And what a blessing it is to fall for Yuuri Katsuki.

 

Yuuri indulges the hug for a few moments, looking pleased despite himself, before he manages to flap Victor off.

 

“See you soon,” he says, taking a quick step back to ensure no other displays of affection occur in proximity to his family.

 

“Bye, darling,” Victor coos, fighting the impulse to chase after Yuuri and cover him with kisses. “I’ll miss you.”

 

“I’ll miss you too, Vitya,” Yuuri returns, and even tips a little smirk in as he swishes off to go to join his family. It does very dreadful things to Victor’s blood pressure.

 

There’s a chorus of goodbyes from the Katsukis, Hiroko hurrying over to press a kiss to Victor’s cheek before they descend into the hatch. Victor touches a hand to the spot, his eyes wide. It’s been too long since he’s had a mother’s kiss.

 

His heart aches for his own in that moment. Just how much will she love Yuuri? Every time she’s called over the last three weeks, Victor had been… distracted to say the least, so whilst his mother’s heard the siren’s name, she hasn’t received the blow by blow account yet. God, Victor thinks, she’s going to be insufferable when she does. He can’t wait.

 

Then the Katsukis and Minako are going, disappearing as the doors of the dais close over them. Victor steps up to it and blows a kiss down to Yuuri. Yuuri does as Victor had and, flushing, pretends to catch it.

 

* * *

 

Victor spends the time whilst Yuuri is gone ensuring the proper protocols are being followed ship-wide for a landing. He notices that when a lot of the tasks are finished, a good chunk of the crew are distracted by their circling siren guard, many stopping in the corridors to look out the windows. He smiles when he sees a group of cadets playing some sort of game through the glass with the female siren in the green skirts, who Victor thinks is Yuuko.

 

He also has a debrief with the team that met the sirens. Having their expert opinions smoothes those final few corners of himself that’ve been scuffed by the days events. Victor’s interested in what Mila suspects the council will make of the sirens’ verbal weapons. The Officer had diplomatically kept these opinions to herself during the meeting, and does indeed flag that there will be those amongst the council who will not react well to The Hunt. But even Mila agrees that if the issue is posed right, presenting The Hunt as stemming from self defense rather than bloodthirst, then they could be convinced into peace talks.

 

Lastly Victor returns to his office and files a report for Lilia. He spends a long while on it, eating dinner at his desk, and when he retires to the lounge it’s late. Victor grabs a bottle of wine from the rack and pours himself a glass, shedding his clothes as he makes his way towards the bedroom. He takes a long gulp before climbing in the shower and letting the hot water soothe long limbs that are sore with tension.

 

Victor’s out of the shower and standing bare in front of his wardrobe, when the sound of soft footfalls reach him.

 

“Oh.”

 

He pushes his damp hair back as he turns, and sees Yuuri standing in the doorway to the bedroom, a woven bag slung over his shoulder. Yuuri’s eyes are very wide.

 

“Hello, creature,” Victor says affectionately, pulling on a pair of sweats and going to wrap his arms around Yuuri.

 

The siren draws a slightly shaky breath and lays his hands flat against Victor’s bare chest as he’s pressed against it. Yuuri has no embarrassment over his own nudity, something Victor found out quickly and has suffered for every time Yuuri drops his dress without concern. But Victor’s nudity always causes Yuuri to stutter and blush.

 

Victor is warm from the shower and presses his lips against Yuuri’s cool hair. Yuuri snuggles into his heat.

 

“Did you have a nice time with your family?” Victor asks, unhooking the bag from Yuuri’s shoulder with an arm still around his waist. It falls to the floor with a thump.

 

“Yeah,” Yuuri says, sounding a little distracted as Victor leads him over to the bed. He drags Yuuri onto the mattress, quickly octopusing him once they’re horizontal. “My mum’s food is so good. And I went in the pools.”

 

Victor’s heard about the impossibility of the asteroid pools from Yuuri already. They’re as odd as the echoing chambers and he’s sure Seung-Gil will actually crack a smile if he gets to see them. But at the moment Victor’s more focused on the way Yuuri’s lips drag a little against his collarbone as he speaks. He shivers with it.

 

“I’m glad you had a nice time,” Victor murmurs, his fingers combing through Yuuri’s hair. “Do you think your family liked me?”

 

Yuuri laughs then, and looks up at Victor. His eyes are bright with happiness, and something else that has a dark tug to it. It makes Victor’s pulse stutter.

 

“They love you,” Yuuri says, grinning at him. “My mum thinks you’re so pretty, she’s been getting out all my baby clothes and drawings to show you. My dad likes you too, he’s just more quiet about it. I don’t think any of them will ever get over you saving me, but my dad seems to carry something about how long I had to run for, it really got to him.”

 

Victor gives him a little squeeze then, not liking the reminder either.

 

“Well I’m sure them liking me is in large part thanks to how you portrayed me so thank you,” Victor says.

 

Yuuri smiles in that way that makes his cheeks go all round and cute.

 

“Mari… she’s harder to read but I know she respects and is grateful to you at least. Minako —”

 

Yuuri breaks off when he gets to his mentor, his face flushing again as he buries it back in Victor’s chest.

 

“Minako what?” Victor pushes, grinning as he jostles Yuuri.

 

Yuuri mumbles something into his chest. Victor nuzzles his nose into Yuuri’s hair and coos at him until Yuuri peeks back up.

 

“She wants to know why we aren’t mated yet,” Yuuri says, turning the darkest shade of red Victor’s ever seen him. He seems incapable of meeting Victor’s eye.

 

Victor chuckles, and leans to kiss his hot cheeks. This does nothing to diminish the blush.

 

“Well tell her that there’s nothing wrong with us taking our time,” Victor says, in a gentle tone to coax Yuuri to look at him properly. “I love you but it’s a huge decision you have to make.”

 

Victor doesn’t really think much of his sentence until Yuuri’s eyes widen.

 

“You… do?” Yuuri asks, breathless as his eyes suddenly become wet.

 

“Of course,” Victor says, because it’s the easiest thing to admit. Like coming home.

 

Yuuri stares at him for a few more moments, and then surges up to kiss him. Victor makes a delighted sound as he’s pushed flat on his back, Yuuri’s thighs coming to straddle his hips. It’s a deep, raw kiss that speaks of something else, Yuuri’s own personal siren song just for Victor.

 

“And what you said,” Yuuri gasps once they break apart, his hair ruffled and dress bunched up, “about it being my decision.”

 

“Yes well it’s a big one, darling,” Victor says, feeling the affection in his own chest tugged up and out into the soft way he’s looking up at Yuuri. “You can take as much time as you need.”

 

“No, but,” Yuuri says, shifting slightly in a way that unintentionally makes Victor groan at the contact. “You said it like it’s only my decision, like you’ve… like you’ve already made yours.”

 

Victor blinks up at him, and wonders if he, Victor Nochillforever as Yuri Plisetsky has dubbed him, has somehow managed to be too subtle.

 

“Well of course I have, my sun, Yuuri,” he says, pushing himself up to be propped on his elbows. “I’m nothing if I’m not yours.”

 

Yuuri makes a broken, desperate sound and dives back down, Victor’s arms slipping out from under him as he gets kissed senseless. And when Yuuri returns his confession, speaks his resolve and their future into being, Victor’s heartbeat finally has an answering echo.

 

* * *

 

The time Victor spends on Yuuri’s home asteroid is a blur of love and family and wild experiences. The first thing that happens on the morning after Victor takes Yuuri apart piece by piece, marvelling at the sounds he can draw from the siren, is a congratulatory hug for Victor from his best friend, because Christophe is a pervert and has a sixth sense for this shit.

 

The next is Yuuri returning from a second day spent with his family with pink cheeks and an invitation. One for Victor to officially meet Yuuri’s parents as their son’s new mate. It causes a display on bridge the like of which Yuuri never seems to get used to but always ends with him in Victor’s arms. Victor of course intends to sort out the human equivalent of this lifelong promise as soon as possible, but that’s for another day.

 

The visit is a marvel from the get go. The asteroid’s surface sparkles with more than just frost; great veins of midnight blue mineral spidering out across its surface. But that’s nothing in comparison to the sort of banqueting hall that Victor ends up in.

 

The cavern, deep within the asteroid, is not built like human structures. With no need for a recognisable floor or ceiling, it’s a vague egg shape and is aglow with rocks of every colour. And not just any rocks; diamonds, sapphires, rubies, and emerald, an array of rainbow colours that capture the low golden light given off by little glass orbs set between the stones. Yuuri explains that the liquid held within the orbs is a chemical reaction of two metals, burning together much like carbon and hydrogen do when oxidised.

 

Victor’s head is not feeling particularly scientific of course. He’s too overwhelmed by the room. Asteroid mining has long been a profitable business, but this is quite on another level.

 

Then there’s Yuuri. Resplendent in his own setting, bathed in the soft light and guiding Victor — who’s bitter about being in his ridiculous space suit — into the heart of his family. Of course Victor can’t eat with the Katsukis, as would be the traditional activity for this sort of gathering, but the family and their friends are sort of just mingling casually, passing each other food without great ceremony.

 

Yuuri helps Victor navigate zero gravity. Up on the surface, Victor had been happy to use his suit’s boosters, but down here in close proximity to others, it’s far preferable to be tethered to his mate. Victor’s pulled around on the end of Yuuri’s arm with a dopey smile on his face and what may be a deliberate clumsiness to his drifting style. It makes Yuuri pull him closer after all.

 

After the sirens have eaten and settled into mellow chat, Yuuri draws Victor in where they’re floating a few inches above the surface of the glittering stones. From the positions the sirens have chosen they appear to be drifting near the floor, but honestly Victor has no idea which way is up any more. Not that it even matters.

 

Yuuri mouths out translations of what his family are talking about, helping Victor keep up. But mostly they just grin giddily at each other, their arms looped together and fingers entwined. They’re able to get away with this until Minami bounces through the air to ask Yuuri something. This has happened a few times over the course of the night, and Victor’s starting to understand that there’s a bit of hero worship in the young siren.

 

Yuuri, a little flustered at being caught, seems to agree with whatever Minami is saying and the blonde siren spins away again, delighted.

 

Victor slants a questioning look at Yuuri, who just smiles and tilts his head after Minami. Minami is pulling Yuuko into a more upright position. The woman is laughing and half putting up a fight, but Takeshi and Minako have joined in and eventually Yuuko concedes and joins Minami in the centre of the loose circle the others have formed. Then they start to sing.

 

Their voices are rippling displays of light, the waves shaping themselves into different frequencies, Minami’s orange and Yuuko’s green sometimes mixing in a harmony of colours. The show catches off the many stones in the walls, turning the room into a glittering array of colour, refracted light sparking across the faces of the watching friends.

 

Victor’s overwhelmed again. But Yuuri squeezes his hand and he turns to see his mate smiling at him. It’s a fond, secret smile that speaks of home even though Victor is hopelessly caught up in this alien place. Victor feels his own smile growing as Yuuri’s undeniable gravity centres him. He leans his shoulder up against Yuuri’s and lets a sigh ease from him.

 

After that Minako and Toshiya drink a lot of something that looks like molten silver, and Victor briefly loses Yuuri as Minako forces her student up to dance. Yuuri goes, flushing with his head ducked. But his nerves seem to melt away the moment he starts to move, reaching a hand up above him before twisting into a swoon that makes Victor weak with the need to prostrate himself at Yuuri’s feet.

 

Overall, Victor is thoroughly charmed by Yuuri’s family and friends. Mari gradually warms to him, finding his amazement with their norms amusing and managing to tease Victor despite only communicating through mouthing and gestures. And he would outright sell his soul if it would make Hiroko Katsuki happy.

 

* * *

 

When it comes time for the Neuro to leave a day later, Yuuri is not the only one who’s bereft.

 

There’s a final discussion on the council’s peace offer on board the Neuro. The Katsukis have spoken to other sirens in their belt, and whilst it’s too early to tell what the community’s true feelings are many have shared their opinions. A lot are appalled at the idea of collaborating with humans, but more are agreeable or at least realise the risks of the alternative.

 

By the time it comes for them to leave, there are a lot of tears all round. Yuuri promises to visit again soon, wrapped in the arms of his family in the landing bay. Victor is at a respectable distance for this, but Hiroko catches sight of him hovering and waves a hand for him to join. Victor’s folded into the siren huddle and has to blink back tears.

 

* * *

 

“So what’re the chances of me meeting my own gorgeous siren?”

 

They’re on course for the Starbase Johanosvik and Yuuri is tucked into Victor’s side as they sit in Christophe’s room. The First Officer invited the couple and Phichit for dinner, and now the four of them are lounged on his couches after being stuffed full of delicious cooking.

 

Chris poses the question whilst refilling Yuuri’s glass.

 

“Well,” Yuuri laughs. “You’ll have to find one who doesn’t want to shred you to pieces first.”

 

“I’m not opposed to a little rough play, mon amour,” Chris replies, tipping a wink at Yuuri, who’s too tipsy to be embarrassed by it.

 

“I wonder what other myths are true,” Phichit wonders. He’s lying with his feet propped in Chris’ lap, and will occasionally nudge the other man into giving him a foot rub. Apparently their ship’s strict hierarchy is in fact very disposable. “Like are centaurs out there?”

 

“Don’t tell me you want to fuck a horse,” Chris says, poking Phichit’s ankle.

 

“Ew no, I was just wondering,” Phichit giggles, poking back with his toe.

 

“You know they’re not actually sirens,” Victor points out, joining the conversation for the first time in a while. He’s been too enchanted by flush the alcohol has given Yuuri, the way his limbs are loose with it and he doesn’t mind snuggling up against Victor even though they’re not alone.

 

“Oh boo,” Yuuri says, bumping his hand against Victor’s thigh. “I like being a thing of myth. It seems impressive.”

 

“You’d be impressive whatever you were, moya solnyshko.”

 

“Stop you two, I’ll get cavities,” Chris interrupts just as Victor goes to nuzzle behind Yuuri’s ear.

 

Yuuri takes another large gulp of wine, hiding his smile.

 

“God, I haven’t been to Johanosvik in ages,” Phichit changes the subject with.

 

“Me neither,” Victor agrees. “It’ll be nice to speak my own language for a while.”

 

“You speak it with me all the time,” Yuuri points out, frowning up at him.

 

“Yeah but I don’t get to boss people around,” Victor returns. “Bossing people around is far more effective in Russian.”

 

“What’s to say you can’t boss Yuuri around, eh?” Chris poses, waggling his eyebrows at them.

 

Victor throws one of the many decorative cushions at him.

 

“I love that you’re mated,” Phichit says then, his eyes shining with emotion that may be due to how much wine he’s had. “It’s beautiful.”

 

“Beautiful and mad, true Nikiforov style,” Chris agrees.

 

“Hey, people do worse things on Tega,” Victor objects. “You know what they say, what happens on Tega stays in its orbit. Oh my gosh Yuuri, we could have a Tega wedding!”

 

“I will kill you,” Phichit swears, sitting up straighter. “Nobody is denying my right to plan an outrageous wedding for you both, I will not have that taken away by some cheap weekend on Tega.”

 

After that it’s plenty of teasing, Phichit and Chris’ wedding ideas getting gradually more and more outlandish. Yuuri laughs along and flushes, and when he turns to Victor, smile wide and eyes shining, Victor can’t help but agree with Phichit. It truly is beautiful that he gets to spend the rest of his life mated and in love with this siren.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I work for Wikipedia (or the charity that supports the site) and we have had someone contact us about asteroid mining. It’s profitable AF. But probs not feasible at present. Also don’t contact the Wikimedia Foundation or its chapters about editing content, friends, that’s not how the site works.
> 
> The next piece is in the works so until next time, au revoir mes petit choux, come find me on [Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/ewokthrowdown).


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